In accidents involving possible injury or fractures to the cervical spine, it is important to stabilize the cervical spine as soon as possible. Movement of victims with cervical spine injuries often causes additional cervical injury, spinal cord trauma, and paralysis. Flexive movement of the cervical spine are especially dangerous as 80-90% of spinal cord injuries occuring after the initial cervical spine injury are associated with this movement. The cervical spine collar of the present invention provides emergency stabilization of the cervical spine of a victim at the scene of an accident or trauma prior to moving the victim. The invention cervical spine collar positions the cervical spine in approximately 15 degrees of extension with a distracting force equal to the weight of the head or any portion thereof. In this position, pressure is taken off the fractured cervical vertebrae and the head is arrested from movements which might drive fractured cervical vertebra bone fragments into the spinal cord.
The invention cervical spine collar has two major component parts, a superstructure and a distracting cuff, both of which are longitudinally flexible. This facilitates placing the cervical spine collar about the injured person's neck without moving the neck. Thereafter an inflatable portion of the distracting cuff is inflated to distract and arrest the injured person's neck.